Creative Process: Application Deadline Stop Motion
I created this stop motion graphic as part of my social media internship at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Undergraduate Admissions Office. One of the chief reasons that people follow universities admissions’ social media pages is to stay informed about important admissions-related events and deadlines. Thus, the deadline to apply was one of the things that the social media team put a lot of effort in promoting. As a former prospective student, I always wished that admissions’ offices would post a short infographic or video that would summarize all of the important dates to keep in mind during the application process. So, when I started my internship, I knew that I wanted to make such a video that would help those prospective students who were just as overwhelmed as I was during application season.
Because I enjoyed the outcome of my Twinscape Films’ opening video, I decided to make this project a stop motion as well. To begin, I compiled a list of important dates for the early action, regular decision, and transfer application pools that included financial aid deadlines and deadlines for applicants’ supporting materials (test scores, recommendation letters, etc.). I wrote a script that covered information for all of the applicant pools but later decided to split it into three separate videos. I then had my friend Maia, a fellow School of Media and Journalism student, read the script for the voiceover.
Next, I brainstormed a few visuals that could be paired with the information in the video, such as calendars and paper documents, and created vector versions using Adobe Illustrator. I’m sure I could’ve made this project easier for myself by not including so many different components and vectors in the video, but I really wanted to try out some new things on Illustrator, so I went a little overboard.
Now for the actual stop motion. Similar to the process behind the Twinscape Films’ stop motion, I would make one artboard, add the vectors on top, duplicate the artboard, and then move the vectors slightly. Because the video was initially supposed to include information about all three of the applicant pools, I had to make five separate Illustrator files because all of the artboards wouldn’t fit into one. This, however, helped me organize and divide the video into different parts, so when I had to separate the video into three different ones, I knew what file contained the artboards I needed.
To compile all of the images into the final video, I used Adobe Premiere Pro and set each image to last about 0.2 seconds. I then added in the voiceover and made some adjustments to the length of a few of the images so that the visuals would align with what was being said.
The original, full-length video can be found below. The entire process took about three to four weeks, and this is mostly because I had to divide the original video into the three separate ones. Like I said, I’m sure this project could’ve taken less time had I not included such a variety of visual. However, I was really eager to try some new things, such as the confetti, the walking feet, and the spinning prize wheel, and once I put my mind to something, I won’t stop until I finish.